


Sacrifice

by Micutiethemitten



Category: Persona 5
Genre: 3rd person but Ryuji Centric, Like, M/M, That's honestly the only way I can write things, The Ryuji Dies In Shido's Palace AU, The ship I listed is less a relationship and more Ryuji's feelings toward his best friend, spoilers for 7th palace, you can read his thoughts and feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-05 15:49:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12797628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Micutiethemitten/pseuds/Micutiethemitten
Summary: Ryuji might not make it, but he'll be damned if his friends don't.





	Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> In which the Author has never seen the 'Ryuji dies in Shido's Palace AU' done from Ryuji's perspective and decided to remedy that by crying about killing off their favourite character.  
> I'm so sorry.

“Over there! A lifeboat!” Queen pointed, and the group craned their necks to see their only hope. Together, they ran to the next window, hoping to get closer. At the end of the deck hung the lifeboat, held up by the crane.

“We just gotta get there…” Ryuji murmured, staring at the lifeboat, the cogs in his mind churning.

Fox turned, ready to leave, “It’s too far, we won’t reach it in time..!” Skull shut his eyes, trying to think with all the external stimuli and fear assaulting his senses.

 _No! We have to reach it! We can’t die here! There has to be some way! It’s our only option!_  
**Run.** came the echo, the thunder of Seiten Taisei. **You’re the only one who can do this, Ryuji. Run, and you’ll make it.  
** With his mind made up, determination steeling his resolve, he opened his eyes, and stepped forward. “I got this.”

“Huh?” Panther asked, behind him.

“Hang tight. I’ll grab the boat.” He let out a shaky breath, nerves crackling with anxiety as he jumped down onto the flats a few feet in front of him. Ann cried out his name behind him, as if it was some rushed argument to not do it, and it reminded him exactly why he had to do it. They were going to die if he didn’t act now. He had to. Even with the atmosphere, Ryuji sunk into the starting position like it was second nature, fingertips ghosting the floor and knees bent.

“It’s now or never... Here goes...” 

He ran, Ryuji ran like his life depended on it, heart pounding and yelling at the top of his lungs, the downward descent speeding up, and Ryuji lost himself to his visuals and the slam of boots against the stone. Pain flared up in his leg, the ache reminding him of what cards he’d been dealt, and how far he’d come since then. He’d thrown the cards to the floor, gone ‘screw that’ and made his own future, with the Phantom Thieves, with his family.

Skull vaulted the gap made by the ocean, and began his upward ascent. Too late to turn back. Keep running. **You can do this.** Ryuji’s yell shattered boundaries, pushed himself to and past the limit, loud enough to ignore the screams from below, loud enough to ignore the begs from his leg to stop. It hurt, but he couldn’t stop. Not when he was so close.

His fingers clutched the bar and pulled down sharply, and, along with his weight, the lock came down, and the lifeboat swung, landing in front of the Thieves below. Chest heaving, Ryuji gave a sigh of relief and a thumbs up, grinning uneasily as they clambered on. They were safe.

 **You saved them.** Taisei commented, the smile in his tone proud, like a father he should have had. A father Ryuji didn’t want to lose.  
_Course I did,_ he scolded internally, _you say that like you doubted me_.  
Incredulously, the persona replied, **Doubting? One of us was, but it was not your persona. You have recovered from your past, laid grudges to bed, and pushed yourself to the edge, a feat Kidd and I knew was possible, and we knew you would be able to do this. The Wild Card has given you so much.  
** _Akira? Yeah. They all have,_ Ryuji mused as the lifeboat came closer. Everything is going to be okay.  
**Though we have been together for so little time, I can say that our time together has proven to be a success. You have grown so much. Do not be afraid, Ryuji-**

The smile on Ryuji’s face faltered as the ground beneath him erupted, debris flying everywhere and making him lose his grip on the lever and crash into the wall. The spines on his back rooted him to the spot, rendering him immobile as the debris kept flying, the flames spreading and heating up the atmosphere. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the debris come for him.

Time slowed down.

He remembered his mom, first, her tired eyes as she came in from her third shift that day, smiling wearily at the food Ryuji had left her, her unwavering support. He remembered Ann’s hair, light in a sea of blacks and browns, let down from the twin pigtails on one of those nights that Ryuji had slept over, too scared of the silence in his own home. He remembered Yusuke’s pensive expression as Ryuji set down the art supplies beside him, sat down beside him and watched the art sprout from the canvas with every brush stroke, each inch of canvas given the same love and attention like a mother’s love to a child. Like Sayuri. He remembered Makoto’s eyes, burning red with the passion to chose her own path, rather than the path chosen by adults who used others for their own benefit. He remembered Futaba’s wicked grin as her fingertips darted across the keyboard, precision gifted through muscle memory and years of experience. He remembered Haru, hands stained brown with soil, in her hands a ceramic pot containing the plants she’d raised with her own green thumbs, smile a mix of flustered and proud. He even remembered the damn cat, blue eyes piercing the darkness and scolding him for missing his attacks, his unorthodox methods encouraging him to push himself, just to prove him wrong.

He remembered Akira, and his heart hurt. He remembered the chains, the red beast behind him, eyes wide and glowing yellow, grin predatory, the power, just to save Ryuji. He remembered the laughs shared with ramen, the unwavering support, the shocked blush on Akira’s face when he told him that he felt free when with Akira, and how his place in the world was beside his best friend. He’d been too scared to say he loved him, to scared of rejection to say he wanted nothing more than to be with the guy who had gave him his smile back.

But the last thought that crossed his mind before impact was, as it all went black:  
_At least they’ll make it out alive._


End file.
